The present invention relates to decorative light strings, such as those used to decorate Christmas trees.
Light strings are used at holiday times to decorate homes and trees. In some commercial establishments light strings are used year round for decoration. As light strings have been developed that use smaller light bulbs, are cheaper to manufacture, and use less energy, the number of light strings being sold and used has increased dramatically.
Typically, a light string includes a plurality of small lights connected electrically together in series or in parallel (or in a combination of series and parallel connections) with a plug on one end that is insertable into an electrical outlet. A light string may have as many as 200 individual lights on it.
A drawback to the use of light strings, particularly in decorating Christmas trees or other parts of a home where the viewer will be relatively close to the decorations, is the appearance of the pair of wires that runs from light to light. These wires are usually a dark color, and will tend to blend in if used with a Christmas tree. However, they nonetheless detract from the appearance of the tree. Moreover, when a light string is used to decorate a mantle the wires can be hidden to a limited extent behind other decorations. In most cases, however, the wires are generally detractive and not attractive.
Therefore, a need remains for a light string wherein the conducting wires are not visible or at least not obtrusive.
According to its major aspects and briefly recited, the present invention is the combination of a decorative ribbon and a light string. Except for the lamp bulbs themselves, the light string runs through the interior of a two-panel ribbon. The bulbs extend through holes in the ribbon so that they alone are visible from the exterior of the ribbon. Preferably the ribbon has reinforcing wire to stiffen it so that the ribbon light string may be shaped for good aesthetic effect.
The use of reinforced ribbon is an important feature of the present invention, the reinforcing allows a greater range of materials to be used for the ribbon itself, including those with limited structural stiffness, and facilitates the shaping of the ribbon into aesthetic forms that display both the ribbon and the lights carried by it.
The use of two-panel ribbon is another important feature of the present invention because, regardless of the ribbon""s orientation, the panels allow the conducting wires of the light string to be completely hidden by the ribbon, while allowing the illuminating portion of the lamps to be visible.
Still another important feature of the invention is the use of shiny or reflective ribbon materials, which can enhance the light from the lamps by reflecting it from the ribbon""s surface.
These and other features and their advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art of decorative lighting from a careful reading of the Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments accompanied by the following drawings.